TROUT STUFFED WITH WILD RICE

1 cup wild rice

¼ cup pine nuts

4 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

4 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary leaves

1 garlic clove, minced

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

¼ pound thinly sliced prosciutto crudo

4 cleaned, scaled, and gutted trout

2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Pour the wild rice into a large saucepan and cover it with a generous amount of water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat a bit and simmer steadily until tender, between 30 and 55 minutes, depending on the varietal and the grains’ residual moisture content. Check the package for more information. Drain in a fine-mesh sieve or a lined colander set in the sink. Pour the cooked wild rice into a bowl.

2. Toast the pine nuts in a skillet over medium-low heat until lightly browned, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add them to the wild rice, and stir in the lemon zest, rosemary, garlic, salt, and pepper.

3. Position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400°F.

4. Divide the prosciutto strips into 4 portions. Lay each portion on your work surface in overlapping strips so that you have 4 “beds” for the trout.

5. Stuff a quarter of the wild rice mixture into the body cavity of each trout. Lay each trout on top of a portion of overlapping prosciutto strips. Fold the prosciutto over so that it encircles the trout, holding the filling inside.

6. Heat a very large ovenproof skillet over medium heat. A cast iron skillet works best. Add the oil, swirl it around the skillet to coat, and set the 4 trout in the skillet, alternating directions if it helps them fit. Cook for 2 minutes, then use a large, wide metal spatula to flip them over one by one. Take care to keep the prosciutto intact and thus the wild rice stuffing inside.

7. Set the skillet in the oven and roast for 12 minutes. Cool in the skillet for a few minutes before transferring them to serving plates.

SERVES 4

Active time: 30 minutes

Total time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Save time: Use 3½ cups cooked wild rice and omit soaking and cooking the raw grains.

CHEF IT UP!

• Drizzle each cooked trout with 2 teaspoons aged balsamic vinegar.

TESTERS’ NOTES

• Figure on one trout per person—unless you have more courses or side dishes, at which point half a trout would do it.
• For the best texture and flavor, ask the butcher at your supermarket to slice prosciutto crudo into paper-thin strips for you, rather than buying the presliced prosciutto in the deli case. Keep the prosciutto crudo tightly sealed and refrigerated just until you’re ready to use in this recipe.
• This filling would also be excellent stuffed into a flank steak or thick, bone-in pork chops. Ask the butcher at your supermarket to open pockets in these cuts of meat so you can stuff them at home.